Bullet Journal 2022

[Slache]

My 2020 and 2021 Bullet Journals are kind of a disaster, so we're movin' on! Who's with me?

I've really parred down and I stick pretty close to the original concept with the exception of a few choice collections in the front. I keep a weekly log of instead of daily. This year has no goals because I still feel in limbo. Well, I have reading goals and workout plans but no "save 3 months of expenses" or "lose 20 pounds". My two oldest kids (8 and 11) are joining me this year for 2 reasons. They've developed my old habit of things writing in several places and then losing them, and I want their school lists kept instead of thrown away.

My choice collections listed by 2 page spreads:

1. Year at a glance and things we did
2. Pixels (work out, one year Bible, family illness)
3. 1,000 chapters (inspired by 1,000 hours outside thread)
4. Future log (2 months per page, close to Ryders but no MTWRFSU, just lines between weeks)
5. Wish list & gift list
6. School wish list and field trip ideas
7. When did I last? and for further study

The kids will have future log, wish list and songs to learn. I dropped some things that haven't happened these last two years but might pick them up next year. My favorites were a line a day journal, dream journal, and a year in pictures. I just need simplicity right now. I do keep chapter summaries, school plans and all the other things, they just don't go in the front. In the back I have a grid cheat sheet and several post-its so I don't have to carry post-its. I do use stencils, fine liner pens and low lighters so that my collections in the beginning are pretty, but the rest is... not.

 

So, what are you doing?

[Granny_Weatherwax]

I have been working on my 2022 journal for a couple of weeks. Other than getting in the monthly calendars and adding in the future log, I haven't done much. I know I'll create spreads for the following:

-1000 km walk/hike challenge

-1000 miles bike ride challenge

-Reading log and bookcase

-TBR Bingo

-Blood donation tracker

-Continuing education tracker for tennis

-Dog training tracker

I'm debating what to track daily - hydration, food, vitamins, work outs.

I would also like to create an Adventure Bingo. My default mode is staying home (I am quite adept at making excuses for not leaving the house) and I'm hoping an Adventure Bingo will entice me to get out and use my wonderful backpacking/camping equipment that has been ignored for the past few years. I think my puppy is trained enough to be able to go with me. Now that I think about it, I should begin his tent training now.

I will set yearly goals and break them down into monthly and weekly steps. 

I'll probably add in some monthly challenges as well. Simple things like using up products I have around the house. For instance, I have boxes and bags of tea my international athletes brought me. I want to set up a challenge to drink these teas for a month (instead of my standard chai).

My hobby this year has been creating and gifting Bujos for other people. I have enjoyed creating personalized spreads and learning how to doodle and create legible lettering. I have a long way to go in the handwriting department but I plan on creating a few more in 2022.

[Slache]

5 minutes ago, Granny_Weatherwax said:

I'm debating what to track daily - hydration, food, vitamins, work outs.

I tend to do these monthly as my needs change. The need to read and workout don't change, but whether I'm eating well and hydrating comes in phases.

[prairiewindmomma]

Y’all are exhausting me with your goal setting. 😂😉

My planner always leans more towards being a reference guide:

medical: tracking doctors, appointments, medications, prescription numbers and expirations, supplements etc.; I also list insurance numbers, outstanding bills I am disputing/need followup on, etc.

bill pay: I use a 12 month grid with accounts listed

house projects: a mix of “when did I last” + maintenance checklist + projects to take on

date night/day trip list

clothing sizes and needs/wants list

Christmas section, including a gifts ideas section plus budget tracking for gifts 

school and friend contacts

ITA that I try to make my planner the one place I write stuff down. I also try to not overly complicate stuff as I find too many optional trackers a burden rather than a blessing. 

 

[Slache]

7 minutes ago, prairiewindmomma said:

Y’all are exhausting me with your goal setting. 😂😉

My planner always leans more towards being a reference guide:

medical: tracking doctors, appointments, medications, prescription numbers and expirations, supplements etc.; I also list insurance numbers, outstanding bills I am disputing/need followup on, etc.

bill pay: I use a 12 month grid with accounts listed

house projects: a mix of “when did I last” + maintenance checklist + projects to take on

date night/day trip list

clothing sizes and needs/wants list

Christmas section, including a gifts ideas section plus budget tracking for gifts 

school and friend contacts

ITA that I try to make my planner the one place I write stuff down. I also try to not overly complicate stuff as I find too many optional trackers a burden rather than a blessing. 

I use YNAB so some of this is irrelevant. I forgot I wanted to make a supplements page! You wouldn't believe how often this comes up. Or maybe you would, since you're ding the same. I will be adding clothing sizes. That's brilliant.

[marbel]

I love the idea of the bullet journal but get hung up on something and don't know what to do about it. I have read the original blog posts and watched the video by the originator of the BJ (Ryder?) so I get it that I can add an index and numbered pages; I get collections, etc. 

I don't use use a planner for planning - appointments and such are in an online calendar (google). My life does not require much appointment-keeping these days (yay!).

Anyway, I have some things I want to track:

- hikes (not just daily boring walks around my neighborhood for exercise, but my actual go-out-to-the-woods hikes)

- reading 

- books to look for

- self-education (thinking of restarting Lingua Latina after doing it with the kids a long while ago, or maybe 2022 being a year of studying Dante)

- random:  quotes from books, Bible passages I want to keep track of, 

- details on interesting events that took place. Like, a vacation journal if we were to take a vacation. But even something small like a day trip. 

So where I get hung up:  At some point in the year I'm going to run out of space for one or more categories and then I'm going to have to continue them elsewhere in the book (that's where page #s and index comes in, I get that) but it feels like it's going to be so... disjointed, I guess. 

Does that bother anyone else? How do you handle that? I've thought about moving toward a "traveler's journal" sort of thing, with small notebooks inside a notebook cover but that also seems clunky. And then there's overlap! If we have a great day trip to a park that includes a hike, I would want to log the hike details, but then I might always want details of notable plants and wildlife and then if we ate out afterward, where we ate, if it was good, what wine did we drink... 🤦‍♀️🤷‍♂️ 

Or maybe I should just make it a commonplace book and just write in it and have it be whatever?

[happi duck]

@marbel

When I keep a BuJo I just write about the "thing" on the next available page and then that page number might end up in several categories.

So on page 20 I describe an outing with a hike that includes great stories followed by dinner.  In my index/contents I add page 20 after wine and hikes and family memories.

Maybe I also set aside two pages to list wines so I might also list the date and vintage there and include the page number about the day.

[happi duck]

I got away from it this fall but I'm planning to return to my Clever Fox planner.  I also finished my five year line a day and am thinking of buying a new one.

[VickiMNE]

I'm keeping a BuJo for the first time this year.   I watched videos by the original creator and *they* are what helped me to understand how/why I think it can be a good fit for me.

Last year, I used a pre-dated Clever Fox planner which I thought might be a bit BuJo-like but with more structure.  But, turns out that the extra structure was good for the first month but after that, I didn't use it/need it.  SO, this year will be a plain-Jane BuJo for me, very minimalist which I think is going to work well.

Looking forward to seeing others' tips/collections for using it, maybe I'll glean something good for me!

[Slache]

@marbel I leave pages or "thread", which means I write the new page number on the bottom of the original page.

[Slache]

@marbel But start one! Seriously. They're awesome.

[Slache]

Also, @marbel (I'm just going to keep tagging you for the rest of the day, that's okay, right?) I use an A5 traveler's journal. There are a few on Amazon for about $20.

[prairiewindmomma]

Let me explain my appointment page better—I have a 12 month grid on one axis, and the type of doctor on the other. I also include “labs” as one of the doctors. I am juggling quarterly appointments across multiple people—we have a more complicated medical life for my family. It’s helpful information to me because I can quickly reference, “we last saw dr xyz on this date and did labs on that date” when requesting refills of certain medications or whatever other hoopjumpijg I have to do. Often I can’t set an appointment automatically three months out and I have to reference the last seen date when scheduling. As I have to initiate the contact to begin with I need to know when to do that since everyone’s jumbled dates don’t line up neatly.

So, yes, I use google calendar and most stuff is there, but a color coded “at a glance” spread is helpful.

[marbel]

@Slache Tag away! I love this topic even though I have been a failure at it.  

@happi duck This is brilliant. I mean, you just made it click so perfectly.  

I have the journal cover, and an A5 journal I started this year that is a bit of a mess but has a lot of space left in it. I'm just going to restart for 2022. Or maybe today.  

[Slache]

4 minutes ago, prairiewindmomma said:

Let me explain my appointment page better...

What about when you go to a new journal? Do you make a copy of the previous year's before your new one?

[prairiewindmomma]

Yup. I will tuck in a photo copy. I will also sketch in in pencil when I am due for something again. As an example, I last had blood work done in early November, so the February block for 2022 has “labs due by Feb x” with my first name initial. 
 

Because I don’t use my journal for journaling and goal setting grids so much, one journal will last me the entire year. 
 

 

[Slache]

4 minutes ago, prairiewindmomma said:

Yup. I will tuck in a photo copy. I will also sketch in in pencil when I am due for something again. As an example, I last had blood work done in early November, so the February block for 2022 has “labs due by Feb x” with my first name initial. 
 

Because I don’t use my journal for journaling and goal setting grids so much, one journal will last me the entire year. 

Mine does, too. I use weekly spreads so that's only 104 pages out of 250, and aside from my stuff in the front I only use maybe 50 pages. Probably 20 for school planning, 10 for event planning and then a smidge for workout planning, book tracking and brain dumping. That leaves me around 80 pages for "Stop screaming in the waiting room. Here, color in my journal."

[VickiMNE]

2 hours ago, marbel said:

@Slache Tag away! I love this topic even though I have been a failure at it.  

@happi duck This is brilliant. I mean, you just made it click so perfectly.  

I have the journal cover, and an A5 journal I started this year that is a bit of a mess but has a lot of space left in it. I'm just going to restart for 2022. Or maybe today.  

This is what I did.  Started in Nov, in an already partly used lined notebook.  SO GLAD I did.  It has been a big help already!  Go for it!

[popmom]

What would y'all say is the advantage of bullet journaling over a Franklin Covey planner. I've used the FC 2 pages per day with success in the past and was planning to buy one for 2022. Bullet journaling looks like a lot of work that my ADHD brain might give up on. Do any of you have ADHD-inattentive?

eta You'd have to be familiar with the Franklin Covey system/methods to make the comparison.

Edited December 9, 2021 by popmom

[happi duck]

19 minutes ago, popmom said:

What would y'all say is the advantage of bullet journaling over a Franklin Covey planner. I've used the FC 2 pages per day with success in the past and was planning to buy one for 2022. Bullet journaling looks like a lot of work that my ADHD brain might give up on. Do any of you have ADHD-inattentive?

eta You'd have to be familiar with the Franklin Covey system/methods to make the comparison.

If FC works for you I'd stick with it.  Do you often leave days or weeks empty?  For me, a BuJo or my undated Clever Fox planner is better because with a dated planner I would often pause on using it and it was a waste and made me feel behind.

Iirc, FC has a good system for prioritizing and it's easy to move things forward.  Also, if you use calendars a lot to see things out a ways I think FC has the edge.

My two cents.  I haven't used FC in years.

[Slache]

35 minutes ago, popmom said:

What would y'all say is the advantage of bullet journaling over a Franklin Covey planner. I've used the FC 2 pages per day with success in the past and was planning to buy one for 2022. Bullet journaling looks like a lot of work that my ADHD brain might give up on. Do any of you have ADHD-inattentive?

eta You'd have to be familiar with the Franklin Covey system/methods to make the comparison.

The advantage is that I don't like FC, but I like BJs. I honestly think it's a different kind of brain thing and I wouldn't fix what isn't broken.

The inventor of BJs has ADD.

[popmom]

4 minutes ago, Slache said:

 

The inventor of BJs has ADD.

interesting!

[Slache]

14 minutes ago, popmom said:

interesting!

https://bulletjournal.com/blogs/bulletjournalist/inside-adhd

[Shoeless]

I've never been able to figure out what exactly a bullet journal is. Like, is it a planner? Or a diary? A scrapbook?

I have some stuff that I want to track in a visual way, (miles walked, books read, hours spent outside, needlework projects, a few other things), but I don't know that I want to spend the time on managing the bullet journal.  I'm turning 50 this year, and I have some big projects that I want to push myself to complete. Having a visual tracker would definitely help keep me pushing forward. But...my perception of the bullet journal is that it takes a lot of time to organize, set up, and manage? Is that true?

I don't have a lot of appointments to keep track of, so I don't need a thing that says "Do xyz at 2pm on Tuesday".

So what am I looking for, exactly? Bullet journal or something else?

[happi duck]

I feel like Pinterest hijacked the Bullet Journal and made it complicated.

If you haven't watched the original video about it I think it's worth the time.

[Slache]

13 minutes ago, MissLemon said:

Like, is it a planner? Or a diary? A scrapbook?

YES.

I But...my perception of the bullet journal is that it takes a lot of time to organize, set up, and manage? Is that true?

NO.

8 minutes ago, happi duck said:

I feel like Pinterest hijacked the Bullet Journal and made it complicated.

If you haven't watched the original video about it I think it's worth the time.

Yes! Here:

(My original had no calendar, it was a book of lists)

 

[73349]

I will probably just keep going in the little dot grid notebook I'm using (a B5 from Amazon, like $9 for a 3-pack). I started in an A5 Dingbats journal, but the little notebooks work fine because I don't need to carry reference material around. Now I never worry about wasting pages.

@MissLemon It's as simple or as complex as you choose. I've chosen very low-maintenance. I started one in April and I've found what works for me. So the initial set-up in a new book for me is an index (which starts out blank), a future log (just a space to write in events and reminders farther out than the current month), a goals page, and then a month page (a column for each habit, columns for the date and day, and events on the right), a page for each week (a color-coded column for each day Mon.-Sun. and room on the right for appointments and to do items, which get dots under the days they're assigned), and then part of a page for each day.

The part that has been surprisingly helpful is making sure each month is on the left. Then I cut a thin strip of the remaining pages I use that month off so I have easy access to the month. Then once I have a week going, I cut even more off the days so the weekly page is easy to get to also. Much less flipping back and forth. I try to arrange it so I have the narrowest pages at the beginning, and my later pages will be over the top of them.

 

 

Edited August 28, 2022 by 73349

[popmom]

47 minutes ago, Slache said:

https://bulletjournal.com/blogs/bulletjournalist/inside-adhd

Well, that definitely sheds a new light on it. I definitely identify with his description of ADD.

”I've found that motivation and focus come naturally when you believe in what you’re doing.” 

Thanks for sharing. I think I’m seeing the bigger picture of it now.

[Slache]

3 minutes ago, popmom said:

Well, that definitely sheds a new light on it. I definitely identify with his description of ADD.

”I've found that motivation and focus come naturally when you believe in what you’re doing.” 

Thanks for sharing. I think I’m seeing the bigger picture of it now.

I don't know how your planner works, but if you could add lined or dotted pages to the back you could accomplish exactly what he describes while keeping everything you already love.

[prairiewindmomma]

My frazzled brain can' handle all of the codes and page number switches and other things I see in traditional bullet journaling. I'm probably closer to what you'd call a handwritten planner in a journal. I allot a certain number of pages for each section, and those are done with post it note tabs. This allows me to not have to number everything since pages are sequential in order, and post-it tabs are easy to move. 

My journal HAS to serve my brain or I won't keep up with it. I do a weekly spread, and I often will write my to-do list only once if they are things I don't have to fit into certain days. I even pre-stamp my chores for the week onto each page when I set up my journal because I'm too lazy  efficient to write "take out the trash" for every week. Yet, I need to see that in print apparently because phone auto reminders get turned off. 🙄 It's all about figuring out how your brain works for you and what is self-sustaining for your brain.

[Storygirl]

58 minutes ago, MissLemon said:

I've never been able to figure out what exactly a bullet journal is. Like, is it a planner? Or a diary? A scrapbook?

I have some stuff that I want to track in a visual way, (miles walked, books read, hours spent outside, needlework projects, a few other things), but I don't know that I want to spend the time on managing the bullet journal.  I'm turning 50 this year, and I have some big projects that I want to push myself to complete. Having a visual tracker would definitely help keep me pushing forward. But...my perception of the bullet journal is that it takes a lot of time to organize, set up, and manage? Is that true?

I don't have a lot of appointments to keep track of, so I don't need a thing that says "Do xyz at 2pm on Tuesday".

So what am I looking for, exactly? Bullet journal or something else?

I am attracted to the bullet journal idea, but I found starting one intimidating, and I wasn't sure I would keep up with it. So last year, I bought this https://www.amazon.com/GoGirl-Planner-Organizer-Women-Productivity/dp/B07H3ZV6Z1/ref=sr_1_15?keywords=pink%2Bundated%2Bplanner&qid=1639098762&sr=8-15&th=1

It has spaces for monthly, yearly, and weekly planning, habit tracking, etc. You can see images of the inside. You can customize it as you wish without starting from scratch with blank pages like a classic bullet journal.

I like that it's undated, because I only use it sporadically. I'd like to be more creative and committed with it. One day, perhaps I will graduate to a real bullet journal; I feel like this planner is kind of like using one with training wheels.

[marbel]

56 minutes ago, happi duck said:

I feel like Pinterest hijacked the Bullet Journal and made it complicated.

For sure! If you look at the original information, it is very simple.  

I was on a FB group for a while and people were showing off beautiful pages with color-coding, lovely artwork - just extras that were beautiful but FOR ME so demotivating. Like, I wasn't going to be able to do that. I think that image sort of took over and people were like "whoa, this is too much."

I mean, if a lovely journal with drawings and calligraphy works for you, then go for it. But that was not the original intent of the thing.

[AroundtheCorner]

*Disclaimer of being a very long-time member, but seldom poster. Also have a new account after the email-showing snafu that happened awhile back. 
 

Someone posted this video on Reddit, (it’s a YouTube video) and I found it helpful. He does an ad for his sponsor towards the beginning, and I think he gets back to the regular video about the 2 minute mark. (Although his sponsor ads can sometimes be amusing themselves)

He interviews the creator of the Bullet Journal concept, Ryder Carroll. Ryder talks about having ADD and how this system stemmed from that around the 5 minute mark. After watching this video and looking into it more, I also checked out the book Ryder wrote from the library. I found the book to be very helpful, and from what I’ve seen, most people “bullet journaling” aren’t doing it how he explains. Obviously, everyone should do what works for them, just don’t be discouraged or misled by the artsy time-consuming layouts you see. At its core it’s a simple way to quickly log a thought you have - whether that’s something you want to remember to do, something that happened that you want to remember, or something scheduled. You just quickly get it down. There’s no time-consuming layouts. Just go to where you left off and start a new day, logging what you need to. If you want to have a larger list of some kind, such as tracking things, you go to the next blank page and start what he calls a collection. You can make it as fancy or as simple as you want. It could simply be a list of books read, or a super detailed tracker of some kind. The beauty of the system is to easily log what you need and keep it simple, usable and uncomplicated.  You can make it whatever you want that works for you. I think it’s a great concept. 
 

 

 

Edited December 10, 2021 by AroundtheCorner
Trying to embed video.

[AroundtheCorner]

On an unrelated note, how do you embed the video?  I’ve searched, but found nothing helpful.

 

Edited December 10, 2021 by AroundtheCorner
I can’t embed or spell

[Clarita]

I really like the bullet journal concept. Although for as fancy as I can write my bullet journal is not the bullet journals I see online. It is so great that I have a running table of contents and I can start and stop notes as I need to, but still be able to find the random lapbook idea from 3 weeks ago.  

[Slache]

23 minutes ago, AroundtheCorner said:

On an unrelated note, how do you imbed the video?  I’ve searched, but found nothing helpful.

You hit share and it gives you a link. Post the link in your reply. It will appear as words, but should become a video in a few seconds. Not all videos can be imbeded.

1 minute ago, Clarita said:

I really like the bullet journal concept. Although for as fancy as I can write my bullet journal is not the bullet journals I see online. It is so great that I have a running table of contents and I can start and stop notes as I need to, but still be able to find the random lapbook idea from 3 weeks ago.  

The case my Bullet Journal lives in is named Clarita.

[AroundtheCorner]

3 minutes ago, Slache said:

You hit share and it gives you a link. Post the link in your reply. It will appear as words, but should become a video in a few seconds. Not all videos can be imbeded.

Thank you!  I’m trying, but it’s not working. I’ve tried using the Code box at the top and I’ve tried just pasting it directly as text, but it’s not working. Not sure what I’m doing wrong?  
 

Anyway, thanks for the bullet journaling topic. It’s been on my mind a lot lately, and I’m enjoying everyone’s posts. 

[Slache]

3 minutes ago, AroundtheCorner said:

Thank you!  I’m trying, but it’s not working. I’ve tried using the Code box at the top and I’ve tried just pasting it directly as text, but it’s not working. Not sure what I’m doing wrong?  
 

Anyway, thanks for the bullet journaling topic. It’s been on my mind a lot lately, and I’m enjoying everyone’s posts. 

 

[Slache]

Did you do that?

[AroundtheCorner]

1 minute ago, Slache said:

 

That’s what I did. I clicked Share on YouTube and chose Embed. Then I copied that link. I’ve tried pasting it using the code button at the top. And I’ve tried just pasting it in my reply. I appreciate you helping!  I’m not doing something correctly. 

[Slache]

1 minute ago, AroundtheCorner said:

That’s what I did. I clicked Share on YouTube and chose Embed. Then I copied that link. I’ve tried pasting it using the code button at the top. And I’ve tried just pasting it in my reply. I appreciate you helping!  I’m not doing something correctly. 

What happens when you paste it in the reply? If it pastes as just a link then try it here and click submit.

[AroundtheCorner]

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/nBv5cRbAqGU" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[AroundtheCorner]

http://<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/nBv5cRbAqGU" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[AroundtheCorner]

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/nBv5cRbAqGU" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[AroundtheCorner]

First is just pasting it. Second is pasting as link. Third is pasting as code. 
 

You’re super sweet to keep helping!

[Jean in Newcastle]

 

[Slache]

41 minutes ago, AroundtheCorner said:

First is just pasting it. Second is pasting as link. Third is pasting as code. 
 

You’re super sweet to keep helping!

How weird! I don't know where to go from here. I'm sorry.

 

19 minutes ago, Jean in Newcastle said:

 

Hi Jean! Fancy seeing you here!

[AroundtheCorner]

Thank you, Jean!  I’ve tried everything and I still can’t figure it out. 
 

Thanks for trying, Slache!  Sorry for taking over your thread. 

[Slache]

Just now, AroundtheCorner said:

Thank you, Jean!  I’ve tried everything and I still can’t figure it out. 
 

Thanks for trying, Slache!  Sorry for taking over your thread. 

No problem! My threads are total clown shoes anyway. ☺️

[Jean in Newcastle]

9 minutes ago, AroundtheCorner said:

Thank you, Jean!  I’ve tried everything and I still can’t figure it out. 
 

Thanks for trying, Slache!  Sorry for taking over your thread. 

I went to YouTube. Clicked on the header in my browser, copied and pasted. It was embedded automatically for me.